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There are some know-it-alls who want to tell pastoral leaders how they should have done things differently. Much like the “armchair quarterbacks” that seem to know all the right calls a team should make, even though they have virtually no experience.
Pastor, pay very little attention to those armchair quarterbacks that would speak into your life!
To put the quote that Jim shared from When Sheep Bite into context, here is the full passage—
Jesus is our perfect example of a Shepherd Leader. His example was to lay it all on the line, regardless of how the sheep were behaving or misbehaving: “I am the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd lays down His life for the sheep” (John 10:11). By contrast, Jesus warns us that those who are not willing to put their lives on the line for the sheep are worse than armchair pastors—Jesus calls them mere hired hands: “The hired hand is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it. The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep” (John 10:12-13).
If I am called to be a shepherd leader, attacks will come from both sheep and wolves. It’s what I do in those hard times that shows whether I am truly called or merely acting as an armchair shepherd.
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I am a big fan of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA). They are founded on biblical principles. I would paraphrase two of the most important ones as: (1) We need a Savior to set us free and (2) We need friends to lean on. James 5:16 says this as succinctly as any verse: “Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.”
AA says: “Often times, a person with substance use disorder may have a need for control that can prevent them from achieving peace of mind. They may feel frustrated that they cannot control the actions of other people and turn to substances like alcohol to control their feelings, even though the control that alcohol provides is a farce. The Serenity Prayer is a gentle reminder that letting go and accepting a loss of control can help put an end to the substance abuse cycle.”
In light of our series called Is That in the Bible? let’s ask, is the serenity prayer in the Bible.
No, it’s not, but still there are some very important principles we shouldn’t miss from this prayer.
The full prayer is—
God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference.
Living one day at a time; enjoying one moment at a time; accepting hardships as the pathway to peace;
Taking, as He did, this sinful world as it is, not as I would have it; trusting that He will make all things right if I surrender to His will;
That I may be reasonably happy in this life and supremely happy with Him forever and ever in the next. Amen.
Should Christians pray a prayer like this? Biblically, there is nothing wrong with Christians praying prayers that have been written by men or women, provided that they don’t contradict the words God has spoken to us.
Remember James 5:16 that we looked at earlier? The Personalized Promise Bible has a prayer for that verse:
If I have stumbled in any way, I do not need to fret over it—I can rest in full confidence that the Lord loves me and forgives all of my shortcomings. I also know that sin is a hindrance to my healing. Therefore, if there is any sin in my life I repent of it. I confess my sins to trusted brothers and sisters in Christ, gaining strength and praying in agreement with them so that I will be healed.
In a similar fashion, I see several passages of Scripture that are woven into the serenity prayer.
“God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference.” Proverbs 1:2-3 describes the help God’s wisdom gives us for daily living.
“Living one day at a time; enjoying one moment at a time.” Jesus taught us to pray each day for our daily bread (Matthew 6:8, 11).
“Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace.” Jesus also taught us to pray, “Your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven” (Matthew 6:10), and He also prayed a very similar prayer Himself when He was in the Garden of Gethsemane, “Yet not as I will, but as You will” (Matthew 26:39).
“Taking, as He did, this sinful world as it is, not as I would have it; trusting that He will make all things right if I surrender to His will.” Jesus promised us both trouble in this world and His overcoming power to stand strong in that trouble (John 16:33).
“That I may be reasonably happy in this life and supremely happy with Him forever and ever in the next. Amen.” Jesus promises eternal rewards that vastly outweigh the trouble we may face in this life (Luke 12:32; Matthew 25:21, 34).
The bottom line: The Bible is not just a Book to read through but a Book to pray through. ALL Scripture is for ALL servants of God. ALL Scripture is applicable to ALL the circumstances we will ever face in life.
If something like the serenity prayer—or any other man-made prayer—is based on Scripture and helps give voice to your prayers, use them! But use them as guides to help you begin to form your own prayers from biblical passages you are reading for yourself.
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We’ve made it to the top step after a long climb. We’ve arrived! But arrived for what? Not for taking it easy, but for serving.
Jesus was at the top, and consider what He did with that position:
He laid aside His prerogatives as God to serve us—Philippians 2:6-8
He demonstrated this by becoming a servant of the servants—John 13:3-5
He said, “For who is greater, the one who is at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one who is at the table? But I am among you as One who serves.” (Luke 22:27)
We strive for the top not to be served, but to serve. This is why the final Song of Ascent addresses those at the top as “servants of the Lord” (Psalm 134:1).
The first duty of the servants is to praise (2x in vv. 1, 2). The KJV actually renders this word “bless,” which I believe is a good way for us to think about this. The word means:
praise God with a reverential mind and
celebrate God on bended knee
In other words, both our heart and our body need to be in a posture of a praising servant. In the Septuagint, the word used for praise / bless is eulogeo, which means to say good words. In putting the two parts of the definition together, it mean we aren’t grumbling about our service (like “I have to do this”), but we are thankfully and worshipfully serving (as in “I get to do this!”).
These servants are called to “minister…in the house of the Lord [and] in the sanctuary” (134:1-2), just as the priests in the tabernacle (1 Chronicles 9:33; Leviticus 6:13; 24:2, 4).
This blessing and serving is itself a blessing which unlocks even more blessing. The final words of the final Song of Ascent is a prayer request (notice the word “may” in v. 3).
The word bless in this final is the same word translated praise in vv. 1-2, except here the form of the verb means “to be shown divine favor”!
We don’t get blessed by God because we have blessed God, but we bless God because He has already blessed us. I don’t command His blessing, but I bless Him in recognition of the blessing that continually flows from Him to me.
To word minister as in v. 1 means to:
endure all hardships
continue until the task is done
cause or help others to stand too
God loves to bless people who love to bless people!
As long as we’re here, keep blessing and serving others as your act of worship to God. Say good words to people about God and say good words to God about people. Lift up your hands, fall on your knees, sing out loud, or worship quietly in your heart. But keep on serving like Jesus. All of this blesses God.
Your final and eternal reward in the Heavenly Zion is coming and it is beyond compare—
It will be good for those servants whose Master finds them watching when He comes. Truly I tell you, He will dress Himself to serve, will have them recline at the table and will come and wait on them. It will be good for those servants whose Master finds them ready, even if He comes in the middle of the night or toward daybreak. (Luke 12:37-38)
In blessing others, we are blessing the God who has already blessed us and who longs to bless us for all of eternity!
If you’ve missed any of the messages looking at the fifteen Songs of Ascent, you can find them all here.
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The religious leaders who should have known God’s Word the best were the ones who wanted Jeremiah killed for speaking God’s Word boldly.
The priests and the prophets and all the people heard Jeremiah speaking these words in the house of the Lord. Yet when Jeremiah finished speaking everything that the Lord had commanded him to speak to all the people, then the priests and the prophets and all the people seized him, saying, “You must die!” … Then the priests and the prophets spoke to the officials and to all the people, saying, “A death sentence for this man! For he has prophesied against this city, just as you have heard with your own ears!” (Jeremiah 26:7-8, 11)
They did this to Jesus. The religious leaders shouted louder and louder, “Crucify Him!”
They will do this to me. Jesus said, “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you” (Matthew 5:11-12). And He said, “Be on your guard; you will be handed over to the local councils and be flogged in the synagogues. On My account you will be brought before governors and kings as witnesses to them and to the Gentiles” (Matthew 10:17-18).
Holy Spirit, help me to speak only what You tell me to speak and do only what You tell me to do (Matthew 10:19-20). Help me to respond quickly to any wrong thinking, speaking, or action that You point out so that I may just as quickly repent of that. I want my life to point others to Jesus, even as I face persecution.
Something stood out to me quite clearly the other day as I highlighted several verses from Isaiah and was reminded of their complementary verses scattered throughout the New Testament. Always remember—
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The phrase “Jesus knew” specifically appears twice in John chapter 13 (vv. 1, 3), but the idea appears in multiple places. Jesus was continually and intimately aware of His Father’s plan and the Holy Spirit’s empowerment to help Him live out that plan.
Check out some of the things Jesus knew:
He knew His mission—I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in Me should stay in darkness (John 12:46)
He knew His role in fulfilling that mission—For I did not come to judge the world, but to save the world (12:47)
He knew His Father’s voice directing Him in His mission—For I did not speak on My own, but the Father who sent Me commanded Me to say all that I have spoken.I know that His command leads to eternal life. So whatever I say is just what the Father has told Me to say(12:49–50)
He knew His Father’s timing for His mission—Jesus knew that the hour had come for Him to leave this world and go to the Father (13:1)
He knew His Father’s empowerment to complete the mission—Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under His power (13:3)
He knew what He must do to bring glory to His Father as He fulfilled His mission—Having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end. … So He got up from the meal, took off His outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around His waist. After that, He poured water into a basin and began to wash His disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around Him(13:1, 4-5)
Jesus said that He was in His believer’s lives, just as He was in the Father (John 14:20). That means He takes us into His Father, and He also told us that He would impart His Holy Spirit to us.
That means you and I have all that we need to know all that Jesus knew and to live like Jesus lived.
My question is: Why don’t I live this way?
Why am I not living up to this potential every day?
The simple conclusion must be that I am not operating in the full resources that are mine as a child of God.
I must make sure that I am abiding more and more intimately with my Savior, that I am tuning into the prompting of the Holy Spirit more and more consistently, and that I am increasingly aware of my Father’s will for my life.
If we strive for this, we can know what Jesus knew and we can live like Jesus lived. This is how we bring glory to God, just as Jesus did!
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Both physically and psychologically, our natural response to an attack, a surprise, or pain is to fight or flight.
Although this is a natural response, it’s not the best response for shepherd leaders. Think about it: when a sheep is biting you or misbehaving, although you would like to smack them on the fuzzy nose or run away from them, those are not healthy responses.
Jesus said that those who ran away in the face of attacks—either from sheep within or wolves without—aren’t worthy of the title “shepherd” (John 10:12-13). And Paul told Timothy that shepherd leaders “must not be quarrelsome but must be kind to everyone” (2 Timothy 2:24).
As I said, fight-or-flight is natural, but Jesus is calling His under-shepherds to a supernatural response. This will require God’s help, which He frequently provides for us in the timely counsel of wise friends who have experienced the same pain you are experiencing.
Check out this short video where I talked to a group of pastors about this topic.
I would like to invite you to join a cohort of pastors that will be dealing with the same painful sheep bites you have experienced. We’ll meet together online every other week for 10 sessions to discuss the biblical principles that will help us all respond in the supernatural ways that strengthen our leadership, heal our flocks, and bring glory to the Chief Shepherd.
This cohort is limited to just 10 pastors so that we can develop some solid friendships that will last well beyond the cohort, so please sign up today.
Check out more information on my book When Sheep Bitehere.
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“…the Jews there tried to stone You, and yet You are going back?” (John 11:8).
The disciples were sitting around Jesus contemplating the next steps when they heard the news that Jesus’ friend Lazarus was sick and on death’s doorstep.
This statement seems to be a very logical thought. At least it is logical from a human perspective. But God sees wider, farther, and deeper than we ever will, so His logic is both perfect and limitless.
Yes, the Jews had tried to stone Jesus (8:59; 10:31, 39), and for mere men operating and thinking as men, staying away from danger is a logical conclusion.
But Jesus was on-mission from His Father (5:19). He had to go to Bethany because the sickness of Lazarus “will not end in death. No, it is for God’s glory so that God’s Son may be glorified through it” (11:4). Later, at the tomb of Lazarus, Jesus prayed, “This is for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that You sent Me” (v. 42). When the dead Lazarus was returned to life and came out of the grave, God indeed was glorified!
Jesus declares that when we walk with Him, we always walk in the light (v. 9). This is because He IS the light of the world (8:12; 9:5). And as we walk with Him, we too bear the light wherever He calls us to walk (Matthew 5:14).
To walk in our own logic is to stumble in the darkness (John 11:10). We calculate and plan from a place of scarcity and fear. As a result, we stumble right past—or we sit still out of fear—and miss the opportunities for God’s glory to be displayed.
My logic always has a dark edge that I cannot see past. But the logic of God has no dark places because He can see from beginning to end perfectly.
I must daily walk in His light, even into those places where my limited logic would tell me to avoid. It is there that I will be able to witness God’s glory that I wouldn’t have seen had I sat still in my “safe” place.
Jesus is our perfect example of a Shepherd Leader. His example was to lay it all on the line, regardless of how the sheep were behaving or misbehaving: “I am the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd lays down His life for the sheep” (John 10:11). By contrast, Jesus warns us that those who are not willing to put their lives on the line for the sheep are worse than armchair pastors—Jesus calls them mere hired hands: “The hired hand is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it. The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep” (John 10:12-13). 
Craig T. Owens 